Hi Aghadowey,
Thankyou for asking and sorry I have not responded earlier. I had given up on most of this so I left it for sometime. Then I posted the last post. Recently there has come up another question relating to these people and rather than extend this very long thread I put up a new one.
I decided to check here as well.
To answer why I believe that those records were destroyed in a fire.
I have been told by several places where I wrote and asked about these records that in the 1922 fire at the Southern Ireland archives a lot of records were destroyed . Not all but unfortunately those of the part of Tipperary which had the church records I needed, were part of those lost. I think that some of the church records, those that some churches still kept their own records for as well, are being transcribed.
I know I will not get an actual Birth Certificate for William but I would really like to find a parish record. Time will tell on that.
Now why I am looking again is not actually about William and Harriet and their children. That is known as best it can be.
I recently came across a second reference to a ship, the "Agamemnon". Somewhere in the past years back this was mentioned and being new to researching I did not think to check on the passengers, I probably didn't know to do so back then. About four days ago it surfaced on a family tree ,ancestry, I had not seen before, with some of these people. Checking jogged my memory and yes I got the passenger list.
On that were William Holmes 29, Harriet Ann Holmes 24, Robert Holmes 39 and a boy, Walter Holmes 11. No other children were included not even as a count.
All of them transferred to the Blackbird, coastal shipping and only the three adults are listed but next to Harriet is "+4 children" . so i have now got two children names. William and Harriet's son born 1871 Co. Cork Ireland and Walter Holmes 11yrs old making his birth C 1861 .
I am now looking seriously at this person- Robert Holmes aged 39 in 1872 making his birth C1833.
I cannot find a thing on either. no birth, marriage or death. I have looked on UK Gov. Freebmd. all the usual search facilities, Ireland. So hoping someone here may be kind enough to take a look I posted a new thread. Don't know how to get the link but this is the thread heading:
In the Common Room "Re Robert, William and Walter Homes emmigrating 1872 to Australia.'
If Robert and William are related and I think they must have been they could be brothers. I doubt that they are father and son. This is what I have come back here for help with.
Kind regards
Essnell